Insults and Horga’hn
“Commander Mirazuni?”
Ayesha was leaning on a balcony, high up above the water below. Her head had begun to hurt as she walked through the busy promenade and she had paused to inject herself with her hypospray, giving it some time to run through her system. She was distracted by a familiar voice from behind. She was no longer a Commander, but instinct made her turn.
“I cannot believe it,” came the voice again and Ayesha saw who it was; a tall Romulan man, black stubble around his round jaws, his black hair drawn back by a dark headband. His eyes were chestnut brown, below pointed eyebrows. His forehead ridges, though faint, could be clearly seen on his pale green face. He was clothed in simple clothes, designed for Risian weather, a bag slung over his chest. “So far away from home. You always seemed on edge when you were not on the station. And yet, here you are,”
“Serinn,” Ayesha blinked.
Serinn grinned and approached, leaning on the balcony upon his arrival. “Your memory is as sharp as ever,”
Ayesha looked at the Romulan for a moment before frowning. “Of course it would be,”
Serinn chuckled. “Ever humble,” he said, shaking his head. “So, what are you doing on Risa? Are you on a mission? Still trying to hunt down those Empire offshoots?”
“Is Republic Intelligence lacking?” Ayesha replied, raising her eyebrows.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
Ayesha shook her head and turned, leaning back on the balcony and looking over the water again. “No,”
Serinn grinned, copying her pose. “Always making life difficult for me, aren’t you,”
“I do not make life difficult for you. You make life difficult for yourself,”
“The business on Boliot IV was not my fault,”
“So you keep saying. The Klingons did not think so,”
“The Klingons had no right to be there anyway,”
Ayesha scoffed. “The Klingons were the ones who got us out of there,”
“True. But that’s only because the Federation couldn’t,”
Ayesha looked at Serinn. “Do not try to trade insults, Serinn. We know what happens when you try,”
Serinn grinned again. “Ah, I very much missed this,”
“I very much did not,” Ayesha stated, though her voice was not entirely truthful.
If Serinn noticed, he did not show it. “You still have not told me what you are doing on Risa. So far away from Deep Space 16. Has it fallen to another enemy?”
“As I said, the very fact you must ask shows how good your intelligence is,”
Serinn bowed his head. “This reminds me of Firdan-C,”
Ayesha’s eyes snapped towards him, narrowing. “No, it doesn’t,”
“It started like this,”
“All our conversations start like this, you fool,” Ayesha hissed. “You try to flex the fact the Romulans are superior and I…”
“Fall for it every time,” Serinn finished.
“You’re… a bastard,” Ayesha said, her tongue struggling to find the words to insult the Romulan.
Serinn laughed loudly. “Please, stop. My green-blooded heart cannot take any more of your insults,” he said, clutching his heart dramatically.
Ayesha glared at him, but the edges of her lips curled upwards, unbidden. “This is nothing like Firdan-C,” she said, and turned back away from him. She wanted to hide her blushing cheeks.
“That’s true, Firdan-C did not have these rather lovely statues around,” Serinn said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a horga’hn.
Ayesha gasped and turned, her hand flying towards Serinn’s face. The force of the slap took him by surprise. He dropped the horga’hn on the floor and fell over the balcony, landing with a large splash into the water below.
“Serinn!” Ayesha yelled, shocked, looking at the area where Serinn had landed. He submerged with a gasp of air and began to tread water.
“This is Firdan-C all over again,” he said, shaking the hair out of his face and laughing.
Ayesha replied by throwing his dropped horga’hn at him.